Guarnier fourth in opening stage Giro Rosa

1 July 2016

Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team put three riders in the top ten on the opening stage of the Giro Rosa in Gaiarine, Italy on Friday. The two-kilometre prologue was won by Liv Plantur’s Leah Kirchmann, who stopped the clock at 2:23. UCI Women’s WorldTour leader Megan Guarnier finished three seconds off the fastest time to slot into fourth place. Twenty-year-old Amalie Dideriksen posted the eighth fastest times and two-time Giro Rosa stage winner Evie Stevens rounded out the top ten.

“I was looking forward to the prologue because it’s a bit similar to the pursuit on the track,” explained Dideriksen. “With Rio in mind, I wanted to do well on this stage. I’m happy with my ride.”

The two-kilometre effort was flat and fast. Without any technical features, the course required raw power and speed from start to finish.

“You had to go hard from the very beginning,” said Dideriksen. “There wasn’t any pacing.”

The Giro Rosa continues on Saturday with the race’s first road stage. The 104-kilometre course between Gaiarine to

San Fior looks relatively flat on paper and is being talked about as a sprint stage.

“I think there are some short steep climbs in the stage, so I don’t know if it will end in a sprint,” Dideriksen noted. “But

I haven’t actually looked at it closely. I’m trying to take it one day at a time.”

“Now we are racing, and we know there are a lot of hard stages coming,” Dideriksen added. “It’s nice to be started. It’s better than the time when you’re waiting to race.”